Blast from the Past
by The Barroness
Summary: Tony has an unexpected reunion with someone from a past he wished to keep hidden
1. Chapter 1

Blast from the Past

A/N

Not mine, don't own them, not making any money from them. Please don't sue :)

I'm fudging some time lines here so it's slightly AU for both shows but I try to stick to Canon as much as possible. This takes place post Dark Angel. The Pulse happened in 1998. Most of the US recovered very quickly but there were pockets (like Seattle) where the local government or private business took over and hampered the recovery effort in those areas to their own end.

Chapter 1

Very Special Agent Antony DiNozzo entered the bull pen from the elevator at a quick step. He was running behind after a late night, though none of his co-workers would believe him if he told them why. Dropping his bag at his desk he greeted his teammates.

"Bishop. McGoo. Boss not in yet?" Tony asked, as he looked hopefully at the empty desk across the walkway.

"Morning Tony, nope, apparently he's been in with the director since early" replied their newest team member Ellie Bishop.

Tony groaned. Coming in late was one thing but knowing the Boss, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, had been in with Director Vance for any length of time was not a good sign. It also spelled likely doom for his weekend plans. It would surprise McGee and Bishop to know those weekend plans didn't even involve any of his supposed lady friends. Just as he was settling into his seat and started booting up his computer his computer Gibbs strolled in from the stairway leading to the Director's Office. Striding to his desk he grabbed his gun and badge from his drawer.

"Grab you gear, we have a body, Ducky's already on the road with Palmer and will meet us there. Local LEO's are holding a perimeter but refuse to move in. Vance tried to get more but the only information they would give is that 'It's a Navy Matter'"

They all jumped up and grabbed their bags, preparing for the hour drive (longer if there was traffic). As he strode past Tony, Gibbs gave him a slap to the back of the head. No words were needed to explain what it was for.

"Right Boss, won't be late again." Tony knew better than to apologize, he was well versed in Gibbs' Rules having worked for the man for nearly 10 years now. Grabbing his backpack off the ground he joined the rest of the team in the elevator.

They got lucky on the drive out, meaning they were only delayed by 20 minutes due to construction. The bad luck is that Gibbs ran out of coffee at the 45 minute mark of the trip. By the time they made it to the crime scene Gibbs mood had deteriorated. Arriving at the house Dr Donald Mallard was waiting for the team to clear the scene before examining the body. One too many surprises at crime scenes had Ducky and Palmer waiting for the Agents to clear the scene before entering.

Once arriving on scene McGee and Bishop were dispatched to search the perimeter and talk to the neighbours to see if anyone saw anything.

Gibbs and Tony approach the home and entered the front door, Gibbs going high and to the left and Tony dropping low and to the right. Seeing nothing in the entryway or down the main hallway, Gibbs signalled Tony to check the rooms to the right of the hall as he moved to the left. Tony cleared the first room, an office and moved on to what appeared to be a den through the joining doors. There he found the body of a woman laying on the carpet. There was no immediate sign of trauma. Scanning the room for any immediate threat he crouched next to the body to check for a pulse. There wasn't one. Gibbs joined him having cleared reminder of the main floor, the kitchen and dinning areas. By this time McGee, Ducky and Palmer had also joined them, leaving Bishop, as the "probie" to continue with interviewing the neighbours outside.

"What do we have Boss?" McGee asked while glancing around the room.

It was then that they heard the noise coming from upstairs, like someone bumping into something. The team immediately split. McGee headed up the stairs, Gibbs out the front door and Tony out the back, leaving Palmer and Ducky with the body.

Making his way out the backdoor onto the patio Tony glanced around. The yard backed onto a wooded lot and was right on the edge of town and if the intruder escaped they could very well lose them in those woods. From inside the house came McGee's startled cry, the sound of glass breaking and then a thud. In the back of the house Tony saw a figure slipping out a bedroom window onto the roof of the garage. Slipping around the side house he was just in time to see the back of the intruder disappear around the front of the house. Seconds later a near blur came streaking back around, nearly running right into Tony's gun.

"Freeze! NCIS! Hands in the air" Tony ordered, only to nearly drop his gun when the intruder stopped and he got his first good look at her, for it was a woman.

"Hello Max" was the only thing he could think to say.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N

Still not mine, don't own them, not making any money from them. Please don't sue :)

I'm fudging some time lines here so it's slightly AU for both shows but I try to stick to Canon as much as possible. This takes place post Dark Angel. The Pulse happened in 1998. Most of the US recovered very quickly but there were pockets (like Seattle) where the local government or private business took over and hampered the recovery effort in those areas to their own end.

Chapter 2

Max hesitated a fraction of a second then turned to run again. The hesitation allowed Gibbs and McGee to catch up, McGee from behind Tony and Gibbs from the front of the house, both with guns drawn. McGee looked a little worse for wear with an eye going black nicely and a cut that was trickling blood from his hairline.

"Problem DiNozzo?" Gibbs barked reaching for his handcuffs, tossing them to Tony.

"No, Boss, no problem." He replied catching the cuffs only to immediately hand them off to McGee. Gibbs just noted the movement, as McGee cuffed Max. A near imperceptible shake of Tony's head was all Max needed to know not to fight it at this point. Gibbs, being Gibbs, noted this exchange as well. McGee read Max her rights and walked her to the nearest cruiser. Tony knew it was mainly curiosity that was keeping Max from disappearing, if she really wanted to she could be out of the handcuffs and gone before anyone noticed. He was pretty sure she wasn't the killer in this case but knew Gibbs wouldn't see it that way. All he knew was that she was fleeing the scene of a crime. Before the local cops could take her back to NCIS as instructed, he leaned in the window being careful to maintain a distance between them.

"I'll take care of it." He replied in a low voice to her asking look. "Just let me do what I do and don't cause trouble." He smirked at her affronted look and banged on the roof of the car, signalling that the officer could drive.

Walking back into the house he caught the tail end of Ducky's explanation for the time of death and possible causes. Bishop had joined them just after Max had been arrested and was taking notes while McGee was holding gauze to the cut on his forehead to stem the bleeding.

"So as you can see there is no visible trauma to the body, no petechial hemorrhaging in the eyes, no ligature marks. Looks like we're going to have to figure this one out in autopsy. Timothy was kind enough to send pictures of the woman's tattoo to Abby. Though why anyone would tattoo themselves with a bar code like common produce is beyond me"

Tony visibly started at the mention of the tattoo. He knew, then, why Max had been at the crime scene. If someone killed a Transgenic then it had been only a matter of time until Max found out, she kept tabs on all the Transgenics living outside "Freak Nation" as they liked to call their section of Seattle. While most of the threats to the Transgenics had been eliminated there was still a vocal minority who didn't tolerate the "freaks" living along side of the "normals".

Ducky and Palmer packed the the body for transport back to NCIS while the team did one final sweep of the scene before sealing the house. The local crime scene team would come in and do a thorough sweep of the house and send anything they found back to NCIS the next day. Once again they all piled into the car and headed back to headquarters. The trip back wasn't so bad as all the traffic was coming out of DC by the time they were driving into it. The whole drive back Tony felt Gibbs eyes boring a hole in the back of his head and he knew once they were back and away from prying eyes he would have to answer Gibbs questions.

Tony had hoped to keep his past separate from his current life at NCIS but it appeared that past and present were about to collide. He just hoped that the life he had made for himself wasn't destroyed in the process.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N

Still not mine, don't own them, not making any money from them. Please don't sue :)

Sorry about the delay in posting, I can only write on days that the hubby works since I use his computer. (I only have my phone and tablet [not easy to write there])

Thank you for the follows/favourites/reviews. They give me a happy :)

Chapter 3

Arriving back at the Navy yard, the team split to their normal duties. McGee and Bishop breaking off from the group to take the evidence they collected to Abby. Having sensed the tension between Tony and Gibbs on the ride back they silently agreed to make themselves scarce so Tony and Gibbs could talk. Tony knew what was coming so didn't even bother to try to follow them. Instead he followed Gibbs to his "office" in the elevator. As was custom in situations like, this neither man spoke as the elevator began to move. Once they were partway between the first and second floor Gibbs hit the emergency stop button. As the main lights went out and the emergency lights came on Gibbs turned to Tony.

"Are we going to have a problem, DiNozzo" he asked with not a hint of amusement in his voice.

"I hope not Boss" Tony was completely honest, he knew Gibbs would nail him to the wall if he wasn't.

"Who is she?" Tony sighed. He was expecting this but knew this was going to be one of those turning point in his life that could either be for the best or ruin everything. He wasn't sure which was it was heading though.

"Her name is Max. We met, God, it was more than 15 years ago now. Just after the Pulse. I was living in Seattle with my mom's family at the time. Uncle Jonas hated my father for, what he though was, stealing his sister away from her family and eventually her death. He wouldn't even allow my name to be spoken since I shared it with Senior, so I went by my middle name, Logan and mom's maiden name, Cale. Senior was on his second or third marriage at the time and couldn't be bothered with me. This was after Rhode Island but before Ohio State." Tony gave a mirthless laugh. "You won't believe this but I went to Yale and studied Journalism, before the Pulse." He sighed "I never got to finish but was still able to use what I learned there to fight for the people in Seattle. While the rest of the country was recovering, dear Uncle Jonas and his corrupt buddies decided to turn the Pacific Northwest into their playground. Anyway, long story, that I promise to finish later, short, I met Max when she tried to rob my apartment. We got to know each other, worked together for a bit, fell in love, then everything conspired to keep us apart." We went our separate ways. I went to Ohio State under my legal name, joined the Peoria police department, and you know the rest." Tony scrubbed a hand across his face then turned to Gibbs. "She's the one that got away, Boss."

"Tony" Gibbs started, seeing the man he considered a son in a new light. Thinking things over for a second, Gibbs realized that he needed the rest of the story he knew Tony wasn't tell right now as well as time to process this new information. Tony just waited to hear his fate. "Do I need to pull you from this case?" Tony was startled, of all the questions he thought he would get that wasn't even in the top ten. Thinking it over Tony knew that no matter the consequences he had to see this case through.

"No, Boss, I'm good" He declared with more confidence than he had felt since he first saw Max at the crime scene.

"You know I can't let you do the interrogation." Holding up a hand to forestall the objection he knew was coming he continued, "You can watch from behind the glass but you know as well as I do, I can't let you in that room." Tony sighed again, then noted that that had become a habit in the last few hours, but nodded. He knew that Gibbs was right but still, he didn't have to like it.

"One last thing, Boss, when you talk to Max be careful. She's a lot like Ziva, both in mindset and skill set. I know she didn't do hurt the victim, she's a protector not a killer, but if she thinks she's being attacked she will fight back."

Gibbs just nodded and hit the stop button again to resume the elevator. Reaching the squad room they were greeted with the angry glares of other agents waiting for the elevator. Director Vance was waiting for them next to Gibbs' desk.

"Next time you need to have a private conference, please refrain from using the elevator" he groused chewing on his toothpick "Now, I need an update on the case." Gibbs just walked around him and secured his gun and badge in his drawer.

"Just got back, Leon, nothing to update. We have a possible witness but haven't had a chance to interview her yet." Tony was grateful Gibbs used witness instead of suspect. "We'll let you know what we have once we know. Abby has the physical evidence and Ducky will preform the autopsy as soon as they get back. You know he prefers the back roads to the interstate when transporting a body."

McGee and Bishop rejoined the Tony and Gibbs after dropping the evidence with Abby, coming up the stairs as they knew the elevator would be occupied for how ever long it took for Tony and Gibbs to work things out. Seeing both Gibbs and Tony in one piece and relatively relaxed they settled at their desk and awaited instructions which weren't long in coming.

"Go home" Gibbs called "it's late. We can pick this up tomorrow morning." Not wanting to tempt fate McGee and Bishop grabbed their stuff and murmured a goodbye then left. Tony hesitated.

"Max, Boss?" He questioned.

"I'm having her released to my custody tonight, Tony. She'll stay with me then tomorrow we're going to have a long chat about why she was at that crime scene. I promise that for tonight she'll just be a guest in my home. If we find anything to link her to the crime except as a witness then and only then will she have to stay in lock up. Go home, get some rest I don't want to see you again tonight, clear?" Tony knew with that, Gibbs wouldn't take to kindly to him showing up at his house tonight, which had run through his head. He really did want to speak to Max, if just to hear her voice. He gathered his things and left. The next day promised to be stressful and he already knew he wouldn't be able to sleep much until he spoke to Max.

Back at his apartment he settled into the computer chair in the second bedroom nobody saw, in front of a computer system that would make McGee weep for joy and began checking the Eyes Only Informant Net for news of Max, her siblings and anyone who may want them dead. He has to be ready for anything that might happen. A little after 2 am, though he fought it, he finally drifted off to sleep in his chair. The computers continued to run the searches while Tony dreamed of what had been and what might be.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N

Still not mine, don't own them, not making any money from them. Please don't sue :)

Thank you for the follows/favourites/reviews. They give me a happy :)

Sorry about the delay, I have been nasty sick the last few days. To make up for it here's an extra long chapter

***EDIT** After another read through I made a few error corrections and edits for flow (This is un-betaed so all mistakes are mine). Nothing major was changed.

Chapter 4

Watching Tony leave for the night Gibbs turned and made his way down to interrogation rooms. Nodding, he dismissed the guard at the door and entered the room, bare except for a table and chairs. Max sat in one chair tipped back on the back two legs, for all appearances not having a care in the world. Observing the woman, he saw what Tony meant when he said she was like Ziva. Both had a predatory look to them, the coiled grace of a cat. Little did he know how literal that was in Max's case.

"Max, right? I'm Special Agent Gibbs, I know you know Special Agent DiNozzo, 'Logan' as you know him. I promised him that, for tonight, you would a guest in my home. We'll still need to have a long, serious talk tomorrow about why you were at my crime scene and what you know about the body we found there, but for tonight lets go. Also, you run, you'll be putting me the difficult position of declaring you a fugitive. I know that is something both you and Tony want to avoid." He gave her a pointed look.

Max studied the man before her and immediately pegged him for the Marine he was. Her first instinct was to distrust anyone with a military connection but she knew Logan, ('Tony' apparently), trusted him and she knew name change or not she could trust him with her life. Dropping the chair back to four legs she stood.

"Truce, for Logan's sake." She extended her hand and they shook. "It seems like he has a good thing going on here. I don't want to be the one to mess that up for him. After all he's been through he deserves to be happy. I gotta say, it's going to take some time getting use to calling him Tony though."

Gibbs frowned, that was the second time today it had been alluded to that his Senior Field Agent was hiding something, possible traumatic, in his past. He knew Tony hadn't told him the whole story in the elevator and that Tony would follow his unspoken order to stay away for tonight. Gibbs just hoped Tony would open up to him before something blew up in his face. Gibbs escorted Max out of the room and to the elevator. The drive to Gibbs' place was silent though both of the car's occupants were thinking about the same thing, protecting Tony. Gibbs showed Max to the guest bedroom and once he was certain she wasn't going to run, he made his way to the basement to work on his new boat "The Chickadee". The shaping and the sanding of the wood helped him clear his thoughts. He knew that there wasn't much he could do until he had the full story. He knew he could ask Max but preferred to hear it from Tony. And so, the night stretched into early morning as he continued to sand and shape the wood for this new boat until he was tired enough to fall asleep.

Tony awoke with his back twinging in pain. Sometimes, a morbid little part of his brain wished he was still paralysed, at least then he would have to deal with the back pain from sleeping in a mostly upright position. The more rational part of his brain reminded him that he wouldn't be working as a field agent if he was still paralysed and so he got out of his chair after glancing at the monitors. Nothing new was displayed so he closed the door to the computer room and headed for a hot shower in hopes of loosening his cramped back. Once dressed, for the first time in a long time, Tony decided to forego the contact lenses he had been wearing since moving back to the East Coast and grabbed the silver wire rimmed glasses from his medicine cabinet. He only considered them knowing that they would be spending all day in the office and were not likely to go into the field. He recognized that each decision he was agonizing over was just stalling since he knew today would bring about more changes to his already changing life. Having run out of excused to himself, he set off for work. For once the traffic heading into the city was moving at a brisk pace. It seemed that even the traffic gods were against him. Where was a good traffic snarl when you need one. In short order he was parked at the Navy Yard and making his way into the squad room. Gibbs was already there, having arrived with Max after a silent breakfast between them. Max was back in the interrogation room but this time she had the morning newspaper crossword to occupy her time until she was officially questioned.

McGee was next to arrive and was a little shocked to see Tony in before him. He always tried to get in before Tony to forestall any pranks Tony may have planned. He was even more shocked at the glasses on his co-worker's face. Tony noticed McGee staring.

"Something on your mind, Probie-San?" Tony asked, falling back into his teasing ways to mask the unease he felt.

"No, Tony, just never pegged you for glasses." McGee was tempted to tease Tony about the glasses but something told him that today wouldn't be a good day to try to get one up on Tony. He let the subject drop and settled into his desk. Bishop arrived last and made no comment on Tony's change in appearance. Noting all his team were there Gibbs started handing out the day's tasks.

"McGee, I need you to run background checks and financials on the home owner and see if we know where they are right now and what their relation to the victim was." McGee immediately turned back to his keyboard and started typing. "Bishop, I want you coming at this from the other side. Find out everything you can on the victim. Tony, go check with Ducky then Abby. Find out what they have." He held up his hand to stop the protest from Tony. "I'm going to interview our witness, you can watch from observation only after you have the information from Abby." McGee and Bishop traded looks trying to figure out the exchange. No answer was forth coming from either man as they both turned and split to their separate tasks, Tony heading for the elevator and Gibbs to the stairs.

Ducky was just starting the autopsy when Tony walked in. Palmer was taking photos and samples for Abby to analyze.

"What do we have, Duck?" Tony asked trying to not look directly at the body.

"Anthony, my boy, as you can see we have barely begun. We won't be able to tell you much until we get her opened up. Mr Palmer will have samples for Abby shortly." Ducky began setting his tools out on the tray.

"Finished now, Dr Mallard" Jimmy piped up, holding a box of evidence bags. Tony knew there wouldn't be anything from Ducky or Abby and that Gibbs was getting him out of the way so he could question Max alone. The only reason Tony was going along with it was that he knew Gibbs would pull him from the case completely if he interfered.

"I'll take that to Abby, Autopsy Gremlin." Tony joked grabbing the box from Jimmy. "I have to go see her anyway. Gibbs orders." He signed for the box of evidence then made his way out of autopsy. Arriving at Abby's lab, he dropped the box on her work table but didn't see the perky goth anywhere.

"Yo Abby! I have evidence for you" he called. He knew she had to be somewhere in the lab.

"Hold on, Tony, I'll be right out" Abby's voice came from her back room. She came out a minute later and signed for the box of evidence. "So, want to tell me what has you and Bossman so squirrelly?" At his look she continued "McGee called down and wanted to know if I knew what was going on between you and Gibbs. We're family Tony, talk to me." He sighed and knew at that point he would have to tell everyone on the team everything he had tried to keep hidden for so many years.

"Come over to my place tonight and I'll explain everything. McGee and Bishop too. I already told Gibbs most of what I'm going to tell you but there are a few things I need to tell him still and I only want to go through it once." He took his glasses off, cleaned them with his jacket lining then put them back on. This drew Abby's attention to them.

"I didn't know you wore glasses?" She turned the simple statement into a question. Tony sighed again.

"Normally I wear contacts but need to update my prescription." He made up the lie on the spot, not wanting to get into a drawn out explanation. He really wanted to get up to observation to make sure Gibbs and Max didn't kill each other. With a hasty hug to Abby he darted out and up the stairs to interrogation. Stepping into the observation room he saw it was already occupied by McGee and Bishop.

"Don't you two have work to do? Tony asked, the words coming out sharper than he intended. "Sorry, didn't sleep well, shouldn't take it out on you guys." He apologized.

"I have some calls into the base commander but until he gets back to me I don't have much to go on." was McGee's reply.

"And I can't do much until we get an ID on the victim, so we though we'd see what Gibbs got from the witness." Bishop added.

Tony turned back to the window and watched as Gibbs and Max squared off. Immediately Tony knew something was wrong with Max. She was sweating and trembling. Tony could tell it wasn't the questions that were bothering her.

"Shit" Tony swore. "McGee, run up to my desk, FAST." Tossing McGee his keys he continued "Use the red ringed key on my left bottom desk drawer and bring me the black case from there. Bishop, go get Ducky. If we don't move fast she's going to start seizing." Tony knew they only had minutes at this point. He sprinted for the hall then banged on the other door. It opened to Gibbs angry face.

"Rule 22, DiNozzo, I thought I told you to stay on the other side of the glass" he growled. By this time Max had collapsed in the corner of the room and was shaking even more.

"Sorry Boss, but if we don't act fast we're going to end up with a medical emergency." Seeing the short sleeve shirt Max was wearing Tony swore again.

"Shit. Boss, I need your jacket." By that time Ducky was entering with Bishop. Gibbs handed Tony his sport coat as Tony took the exam gloves from Ducky. Draping the coat over Max he gently manoeuvred her back to the chair.

"You haven't been taking your meds have you. When's the last time you even had a glass of milk?" Max looked embarrassed even through her trembling but didn't answer. "Damn it, Max, I left you enough money so you wouldn't have to worry about this." Tony cradled her in the chair, careful to keep Gibbs coat between them. Addressing everyone else he explained, "She can't produce Serotonin which causes seizures. She's supposed to supplement with Tryptophan but apparently hasn't recently."

Meanwhile, McGee was in the squad room flipping through Tony's keys. In his haste he dropped them twice. Finally getting the key in the lock he opened the one desk draw he had never seen inside of. He had always figured that's where Tony kept his copies of GSM. Instead he found the black case and a state of the art laptop. Filing the laptop away for further contemplation McGee rushed back to interrogation. Handing the case to Tony, McGee backed out of the room since there was little space already and went back to observation. Bishop joined him there leaving Gibbs, Tony Ducky and Max in the small room. Tony handed the case to Ducky, who opened it. Inside, it looked like a kit a diabetic would use. Six small vials filled with clear liquid were secured next to six needles.

"How much should I give her, my boy?" Ducky asked. Tony thought about it for a second.

"Start with 100 ml and we'll see if we need more. Hang on Max. Ducky'll get you fixed up" With a quick jab of the needle the medication was administered. Though it seemed like an eternity the tremors finally started to subside and Max drifted off into sleep. Careful not to jostle her too much, Tony stood.

"I'm taking her to my place to sleep. She's going to be out for a few hours. Come over this evening and I'll explain everything." Turning to the mirror where he knew Bishop and McGee watched. "That goes for you guys too" Not waiting for any objections he walked out carrying the sleeping woman.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N

Still not mine, don't own them, not making any money from them. Please don't sue :)

Thank you for the follows/favourites/reviews. They give me a happy :) Flames will be use to roast marshmallows (Not that I've received any. You guys rock).

Once again, sorry about the delay in posting.

Chapter 5

Tony arrived home as quickly as possible without risking getting pulled over. He still had a mistrust of regular law enforcement. He didn't even bother to try waking Max. He knew after a seizure she could sleep for hours without being woken up having tended to her like this before. Being careful not to touch any skin, again cursing her need to wear as little as possible, he carried her into his apartment and tucked her into his bed and closed the door He did leave it open a crack in case she called out or needed him, nightmares from her time in Manticore were another nasty side effect of the seizures. Glancing around his apartment he gave it a nominal cleaning but knew by the time this evening was over the last thing on every ones minds would be whether he cleaned or not.

Meanwhile, back a NCIS, it took a few minutes for everyone to process what had happened. Gibbs was the first to recover since he already knew part of the story. Ducky packed up Tony's medical kit and carefully capped the needle intending to dispose of it in autopsy.

"Hey Duck, I'm going to take that. I want Abby to analyze it" He said reaching for the needle. "My gut is telling me that there is more going on than even Tony is going to tell us tonight. You get anything from the body?"

"Nothing of note with one exception. She was in good health, no noticeable signs of trauma. Still waiting on the tox screen from Ms Sciuto. The one thing of note was that the tattoo on the back of the victims neck was fresh, still healing. I'd say it was applied in the last few weeks. Abby may be able to find out which shop did the art work."

"Thanks Duck. Will we see you at Tony's tonight?" Gibbs was pretty sure what the answer would be but still wanted confirmation. At Ducky's nod he stepped out of the interrogation room. Striding past the observation room he called to Bishop and McGee. "On my six".

Both McGee and Bishop scrambled to keep up with Gibbs. Neither spoke as they strode into the Lab.

"Gibbs! Gibbs! Gibbs!" Abby was practically bouncing with excitement. "I know how the victim died. She was poisoned with Fugu, improperly prepared Fugu at that. She probably died less than an hour after ingesting the fish. I'm still running prints to find out who she is, so far no luck." Noting the lack of response from her audience and the lack of Caf-Pow in Gibbs hand she stopped talking. "Did I miss something and where's Tony."

"Tony took the witness to his place to rest. She had a seizure while in interrogation. They've known each other for years and he's helped her with this before. Good job on cause of death." Gibbs leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. Abby beamed at the praise. "Now I want you to see if you can run any tests on the blood in this syringe, belongs to the witness. You two, report." McGee jumped at the sudden switch in Gibbs focus.

"Still waiting to hear from the base commander but we should have the info on the home owner soon" At Gibbs glare McGee straightened. "and I'll head back upstairs and see what else I can find." He darted out the door before Gibbs could object.

"Bishop, the victim had a fresh tattoo on the back of her neck. Work with Abby to find out who did it and who paid for it. Might help identify the victim. If you're going, meet at Tony's for seven tonight" Not waiting for a reply he headed out of the lab. Abby sat Bishop down with the "T" section of her address book. Ellie started a the top of the rather extensive list of Tattoo shops to see if she could find the shop that did the victims tattoo. Meanwhile Abby too the minute sample of blood from the tip of the syringe and started it running through Major Mass Spec. It wasn't long before the machine started give an error alert. Abby grabbed the print outs off the tray and started reading through them.

"This can't be right. Ellie looked up from dialing the next number on the list. Abby continued "Unless the sample was somehow contaminated, it says here that the witness, strange that Gibbs didn't tell me her name, anyway, the witness not only has human DNA but also cat DNA and a few others mixed in as well, which is not possible... unless..." She dashed for her computer and started furiously typing on her keyboard muttering to herself the whole time. Bishop, having witnessed this before just left her to it and went back to dialing the tattoo shops.

Back upstairs McGee was just settling into his desk chair when he remembered the laptop in Tony's desk drawer. Debating with himself for a few minutes, he gave in and removed the computer from it's hiding place. Setting it on his desk he hit the power button. Instead of a normal log in screen there was an encryption algorithm unlike any he had seen before. Realizing he couldn't break the encryption in the amount of time he had, if at all, he shut the computer down and returned it to the desk drawer. He would just ask Tony about it later tonight. He would love to meet the person who create that algorithm and hoped Tony could put him in touch with the coder. The ringing of his desk phone interrupted his musings. The base commander was finally returning his call. The reply he got only deepened the mystery. According to the commander the petty officer assigned to that house was currently deployed on the USS Theodore Roosevelt and was listed as living alone. The house should have been empty.

Gibbs strode into the bullpen and behind his desk before McGee could stand up. Unlocking his cabinet he grabbed his gun and badge. Without giving McGee a chance to report what he found, Gibbs barked

"Be at DiNozzo's for seven"

Again, without waiting for a reply, he grabbed his things and headed for the elevator. Knowing there wasn't anything else he would accomplish without further information he logged off his computer and gathered his things. As an after thought he also grabbed the laptop from Tony's desk drawer. As he was heading out he called Delilah to see if she was available for an early dinner. He also sent quick texts to Abby and Bishop to let them know he was leaving for the day and Gibbs had already left.

Back in Abby's lab Abby was still furiously typing on her computer occasionally sending documents to the printer. With a sigh she finally stopped at the beeping of her cell phone. Seeing McGee's text she printed off the final few last pages of her research and shut her computer down. Bishop was packing up as well.

"Since we seem to be having an early night, I'm going to call Jake and see if he's free, you want to join us for dinner? At Abby's nod they grabbed their things and headed out.

"You know, we should call McGee and Delilah and maybe Ducky and Jimmy too and see if they want to join us for dinner." With Bishop's agreement and quick texts to McGee, Ducky and Palmer, they all agreed to meet at DC-3 before going to Tony's. They debated inviting Gibbs but figured he was already on his way to Tony's wanting to hear the story before anyone else and without an audience. Abby wasn't too far off with her guess. While Gibbs wasn't on his way to Tony's yet but would be shortly. He had stopped at his favorite deli and was picking up sandwiches for himself, Tony and Max. Remembering Max's need for tryptophan he got her a turkey sandwich along with Tony's cheese steak and his own reuben. After adding a half gallon of milk to the order he headed for Tony's. As was his custom, he let himself in to Tony's apartment, knowing Tony would be expecting him. He could hear Tony toying with a melody on his piano, what he didn't expect was to see a mostly naked Max, wrapped only in a towel, as soon as he walked in the door.

"Sorry, was just taking a shower, I think I killed Logan... Tony's hot water." She shrugged then called back into the apartment "Logan, your boss is here. I'm going to go get dressed." Gibbs watched as Max and Tony carefully manoeuvred through the narrow hallway, never touching.

"I brought food." was the only comment from Gibbs as he moved into the kitchen laying out the sandwiches and getting glasses down. Having nursed Tony through hangovers and heartbreak he knew exactly where everything was.

"It's not what you think Boss" Tony started to explain. Gibbs held up a hand to stop him.

"Eat, then explanations" was his reply. "Everyone else will be here at seven." With that Gibbs unwrapped his sandwich and took a bite. By the time Tony was unwrapping his own sandwich Max had rejoined them, sitting on the opposite side of the island, across from Gibbs. She was wearing one of Tony's long sleeve shirts, arms rolled up a few times over her sleeveless shirt. After a few bites in silence Gibbs glanced up "So, what's with you two? If I was in your position, with a second chance with "The One" I wouldn't be dancing around barely touching. Actually, I haven't seen you touch at all, not without something between you."

Tony set his sandwich down. "That is part of the very long story we're going to get into once everyone else is here. I can tell you that if Max and I touch skin to skin it will kill me. We thought we had a cure at one point but it was only temporary." Both sighed at the memory then turned back to their sandwiches. They finished in silence. Tony decided to check on searches he had started. He was shocked to realize it was only earlier that morning that he started them, it felt like days had passed. Opening his computer room door he didn't realize Gibbs had walked up behind him. Gibbs had previously noted that the apartment had a room that he had never seen and was always kept locked. Seeing it now and the computer set up inside he realized that the secrets his Senior Field agent ran deeper than he ever thought.

"This part of that story you're going to be telling us?"

"Yeah boss." was Tony's only reply as he settled into his computer chair. Checking the different deep web searches he had left running he was suspicious of the lack of any chatter on the murder. He had expected to hear something, the lack of any mention was telling in and of itself. While he checked the searches Gibbs wandered the room and looked at the pictures Tony kept there. He guessed they were all from his time as "Logan". Pictures of Max and a pretty African American woman smiling for the camera. Max glaring at a young man who was smirking right back at her. The one that really caught his attention was one of Tony and Max together. Max was sitting in Tony's lap while Tony was seated in a wheelchair.

"Even before I was a cop I had a hero complex." Tony laughed with little humour. "I was trying to help a woman who was the only witness to a crime and took a police issue to the spine for my troubles. Was paralyzed from the waist down but thanks to an extremely experimental procedure I got the use of my legs back." Lifting the back of his shirt, Gibbs could see the bullet scar dead center of Tony's back. Dropping his shirt back in place Tony left the computer room but didn't bother to close or lock the door. He knew McGee and Abby would want to check out his computers once they got through the story time portion of their evening, that is if they were still talking to him. With that thought there was a knock at his door. Checking the peephole he saw that the entire team, including Jake and Delilah were waiting on the other side. Opening the door he ushered them all in. After jackets were removed they all settled in the living room. Ellie and Jake took the love seat. Abby, Jimmy and McGee grabbed kitchen chairs, while Gibbs and Max sat on opposite sides of the couch. Ducky settled on the piano bench with Delilah's wheelchair parked next to him. Tony sighed, ran a hand through his hair and addressed his family since that's what they were, a family.

"Before I explain everything, nothing that is said here can leave this apartment. Jake, I like you but that goes double for you. Nobody speaks of this after tonight, Clear?" He waited for everyone to nod before continuing. "Thanks, I know my behaviour on this case has been erratic, after tonight you will understand why. First off, I'd like to formally introduce you to Max. We have known each other for many years. Back to before I was ever a cop" Max gave a half wave to everyone in the room. "Gibbs has heard some of this already. I asked that you let me get this all out before asking questions. I promise to answer them all." Swallowing he continued "After the Pulse I was living with my mother's brother in Seattle. Since he hated my dad even more than I did at the time, I was using my middle name 'Logan' and mom's maiden name 'Cale'. Mom's family was wealthy and so I inherited a rather hefty trust fund from her, some of that I used to attended Yale for business and journalism but that was cut short thanks to the Pulse. I only completed one year. After the Pulse I saw what was happening on the West Coast and knew I had to do something. As I told Gibbs earlier I've always had a hero complex. I decided to use what I had learned to fight the injustice I was seeing in Seattle. Much like McGee's beloved Superheroes I knew I could use my wealth to help people but at the same time I needed an alter ego so to speak, to protect my friends and family so I started the "Eyes Only Informant Net". Holding up a hand to stop both McGee and Abby from speaking. "Again, I need you to wait for questions." Abby was literally bouncing in her chair and McGee sat in stunned silence. "As 'Eyes Only' I was able to expose the corruption in Seattle. The next part is Max's story." Carefully passing each other, Tony sat down and Max stood.

"My story will be harder to believe than even Logan's. I was created in a lab. The scientists were working to create the perfect soldier. I don't know if it was government sanctioned or if the lab 'Manticore' was hoping to sell to the military once they perfected the process but we were born to surrogates and then raised and trained to be soldiers. Max sighed. In that pause, Abby jumped up.

"I knew it, soon as I saw the blood tests I knew it. You're one of the Transgenics we heard about 10 or so years ago. That is so cool. I have so many questions for you." Realizing everyone was looking at her. "Sorry, I'll just sit down and wait til later." She blushed. Max gave her a smile.

"Abby, is it? I'll be happy to answer your questions later, as much as I know. It's unusual to find someone who likes us. Mostly we get the torch and pitchfork crowd. Anyway, 12 of use escaped from Manticore and went our separate ways. I've been searching for them ever since. I met Logan trying to steal some art from him in order to fund my search to reunite my 'siblings'. Logan asked me to help him expose the corrupt government but I was too concerned with my own search I turned him down. That is until I saw him helping a the child of a witness to that corruption who would have been killed if Logan hadn't take the bullet instead." Tony unconsciously rubbed the spot on his back. "I'll admit I decided to help at first out of guilt. Then as we got to know each other his quest became mine. I was his legs while he was the brains of the operation. That is until I was recaptured by Manticore. They tried to turn me back into the perfect soldier but I was able to escape again. What we didn't know was that they had infected me with a tailor made virus keyed to Logan's DNA. If we touch bare skin, he will die. The reason I was at that house was that I received intel that I could find one of the X5's there. Turns out the poor woman was a decoy, likely to draw me out. There are still a few people who would like to 'study' me. Why don't we take a break, get some drinks then we can answer any questions." With the team's agreement they headed for the kitchen.


End file.
